Think About Launching Your Next Business In Victoria

Officials in major cities across North America are giddy with excitement. Mainstream media pundits are having second helpings at the predictions buffet. Amazon announced plans to build a second headquarters in one of 25 cities not named Seattle. Good luck to them all. Victoria, British Columbia is not in the running. But, if you are thinking about starting a business—or maybe relocating your existing operations—you should give Victoria some serious consideration. You won't regret it. Here’s why.

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia. It is quickly approaching half a million citizens. Maybe the population boom and interest in the city is because earlier in 2017 The Wall Street Journalcalled it a "laid-back, affordable lifestyle."

Beautiful does not begin to describe the region. Mountains, lush gardens, copious trees, temperate weather, abundant fresh air and Oceanside views pair with numerous bike paths, boardwalks, cityscapes and trails. If you love being outside—and it seems as though everyone is outside in the city—Victoria is a playground like no other.

Lisa Helps has been mayor of Victoria since 2014. She points out, however, that the city is much more than its natural splendor and enviable outdoor lifestyle. "Victoria is an entrepreneurial city. It’s in our DNA." The single largest age demographic is 25-29 year olds, followed by 30-34 year olds and then 35-39 year olds. "This generation is making Victoria their home, and making Victoria their own," she added. "They’re creative, innovative, entrepreneurial and driving a new vision for Victoria as one of the most healthy, sustainable and prosperous cities in Canada if not in the world."

Digital marketing firm, RingPartner, is in complete agreement. "Victoria has all of the amenities of a major metropolitan area including great restaurants, festivals and a thriving tech scene," said Sarah Gulbrandsen, the firm's Vice-President of Client Operations. RingPartner purposefully chose Victoria to start their business in 2013 due in part to the observations of Mayor Helps. Gulbrandsen added:

"There is a sense of community and collaboration that happens in Victoria because residents are in on a secret. They have an incredible quality of life, living in a city where it's easy to relax and enjoy nature on one day and then jump back into a thriving tech community the next."

Total revenues from the high-tech sector top $4 billion courtesy the 400 firms that operate in the city. But don't confuse Victoria for being a one-trick pony. For example tourism brings in well over $1 billion annually. Furthermore, as a capital city there are thousands of public service positions as well as over 6,000 people working in the Department of National Defence. A wealth of ready-now graduates come from four post-secondary institutions. In terms of civic engagement, 77% of its citizens voted in the last federal election compared to 68% voter turnout for the whole of Canada. People are unabashedly engaged.

If you like dining out, Victoria has the second highest number of restaurants per capita in North America. San Francisco is number one. New ones seem to keep popping up, too. Lewis Gelmon is the President and CEO of JR Canada Restaurant Group. Born and raised in Calgary, early in his business career Lewis made a deal to open up four Domino’s Pizza restaurants in Victoria. Flights back and forth eventually led him to fall in love with the city. He ended up making Victoria his home. And now he's venturing into another restaurant line, Johnny Rockets. Once again he decided to launch first in Victoria.

"If you want to develop a national brand across Canada with solid Canadian values of caring and sharing then there is no better place to start a company than in Victoria," said Gelmon. Johnny Rockets combines the story of Johnny Appleseed with the vintage Oldsmobile Rocket 88 automobile, serving wholesome, never frozen, made-to-order menu items like hamburgers, fries and milkshakes. "Victoria is growing in leaps and bounds," Gelmon continued.

"New people are moving into the city on a daily basis, from tech firms to professional service firms. Victoria has a unique mix of business, government, tech firms and great schools in which to build a solid business base. From what I’ve witnessed, any business in Victoria that cares about its people, its community and in my case focuses on providing good quality service and food will do well."

Like Gelmon, Curtis Vertefeuille made a conscious decision to move to Victoria. The business he opened was Moe's, a furniture store located in Victoria's Chinatown. Vertefeuille gushes about the city. "Business has been fantastic with our first year under our belt and it's only getting better due to the growth of Victoria." Moving from Vancouver—a city and region with roughly seven times the population—Vertefeuille notes that Victoria contains everything found in a big city, "minus everything you don't want." He outlined Victoria's vibrant culture, a wide mix of ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ community, and its welcoming and inclusive people. "Everyone is genuine and wants to talk to you and actually listens," he added.

Insights shared by Helps, Gulbrandsen, Gelmon and Vertefeuille are similar to my own experience. I chose to live in Victoria. Twice!

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When my better half was offered the position of Director of Academics at Victoria-based St. Michaels University School in 2011, we were living in Vancouver. It had been our home since 1995. We gave the city and the school a three-year commitment. We said to ourselves at the end of the three years we would retreat back to Vancouver. Along with our three young children we made the move to Victoria and set up house in August of 2011. The third year quickly approached and we began to make plans for our return to Vancouver.

After announcing to various community members in Victoria of our imminent departure, six weeks later we had a sobering second thought. It was an epiphany of sorts. "What are we doing? Victoria is incredible. Let's stay!"

And we did. Ever since, we have fallen more in love with the city and its people. Further ties into the community with my role at TELUS continues as it does with my position as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Victoria’s Gustavson School of Business. As a family we could not be happier. As someone who likes to make a difference in society, I am unequivocally in my city "sweet spot." Of course the cycling is incredible, too.

Mayor Helps provides some final and useful color. "Victoria is a place where business and community are two sides of the same coin; there’s no us and them, just all of us working together to support industry, innovation and strong community connections at the same time. In other words in addition to continually knocking it out of the park on the economic development and prosperity side, we also care about each other."

Victoria does not need to be worried about the Amazon HQ2 sweepstakes. Leave that to the pundits and the big cities. But if you are thinking about launching a new business or relocating an existing one, do yourself a favor and conduct some research on British Columbia's capital.

Who knows? Maybe you too will fall in love with its gloriously picturesque setting, purpose-driven community and business-friendly ecosystem.

I am the author of three best-selling books, OPEN TO THINK: Slow Down, Think Creatively, and Make Better Decisions, THE PURPOSE EFFECT: Building Meaning in Yourself, Your Role and Your Organization and FLAT ARMY: Creating a Connected and Engaged Organization.